CES 2019: NAD Masters M10 streaming BluOS amplifier

It’s a new look for NAD’s Masters Series, its top range which has redefined the company at a new level for the past decade. The new arrival unveiled at CES 2019 in Las Vegas is the M10, a BluOS (Bluesound)-equipped streaming amplifier which uses NAD’s HybridDigital take on Hypex’s nCore amplification, widely regarded as the best and most musical of Class-D power.

The new glass and extruded-aluminium look has industrial design by award winning design firm DF-ID, and includes a high-resolution TFT colour touchscreen on the front panel, though there’s also hands-free control of music from any Amazon Alexa supported device or via Siri, plus both a traditional remote control and app control via the BluOS multi-room system, which is further able to link with other BluOS systems (from NAD, Bluesound and DALI) for multiroom operation up to high resolution.

The M10 is also fully compatible with today’s leading smart home systems from Apple, Crestron, Control4, Lutron, and others.

It is rated (bearing in mind that NAD has a history of its ratings being on the conservative side) of over 100W continuous (ref. 20 Hz-20kHz at <0.03% THD, both channels driven), yet is relatively compact at 21.5cm wide and just 10cm high.

In addition to all the networking streaming and online music services enabled by BluOS (which includes MQA playback), the M10 has two analogue line inputs, one each optical and coaxial digital, USB-A, two-way Bluetooth with aptX HD, AirPlay 2, Gigabit Ethernetg plus Wi-Fi, and a useful HDMI ARC input for playing from your TV. The DAC is a 32-bit/384kHz ESS Sabre DAC, and processing is handled by the 1GHz ARM Cortex A9.

The M10 will also include a license for Dirac Live with the option for advanced users to upgrade to a Dirac Live Full Frequency version.

Australian pricing will be $3999 RRP, with availability expected at the end of April. More at www.convoy.com.au

From a distribution co-operative to an iconic audio brand that brought affordable hi-fi to millions, the growth of the New Acoustic Dimension concept “was a wonderful ride”, as NAD’s late great founder Martin L. Borish put it.

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